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Friday at AES in New York was a pleasant surprise. Saturday was a mob scene. Hey, all you folks who didn’t come to AES, thanks! If y’all HAD come, it would be too damn crowded! This is not officially promulgated and inflated AES hype. Two examples from Saturday’s special events: “When Vinyl Ruled” and the Grammy Recording Soundtable. Yes, Bob Ludwig is a revered figure in the biz, but hey, he was going to talk about cutting vinyl, for crissake! Nevertheless, well over 100 people crammed the modest demo room, lined on one side with vintage recording and disk cutting gear. Bob reviewed his storied career, from his epiphany during his years at Eastman School of Music that he would never be first chair in a major orchestra, his early days at A&R (joining the staff within a few weeks of fellow legends Shelly Yakus and Elliot Scheiner), and his defection to Sterling when they upped the ante in New York mastering circles by acquiring the latest Neumann lathes. He also recalled his early days of mastering legendary albums like the Band’s second self-titled release. He played two tracked for the master tapes, which sounded surprisingly good through otherwise dreary Altec Voice of the Theater speakers. He also told of his balls-to-the-wall mastering of Led Zeppelin II, which was pulled aside and redone elsewhere when it skipped on a record player owned by Ahmet Ertegun’s daughter. (Collectors, look for RL on the inner groove: that’s the one.) An intergenerational audience soaked in every minute of it. Grammy Soundtable: Last Respects, Confessions
After that, an overflow crowd of maybe 500 or more enjoyed the personal recollections an anecdotes of the host and his guests, Jimmy Douglass, Tony Maserati, Elliot Scheiner, Dave Way and Chuck Ainlay. It was interesting to note that both Way and Maserati shared in Bob Ludwig’s confession: their careers in audio took hold when they accepted a certain shortfall when it comes to exceptional musical talent. (Do we share an industry-wide inferiority complex?) Oh yes, every one of about 500 seats was occupied, with SRO standees jamming the rear. Up in the Aisles When I got back upstairs, the aisles were congealed with crowds just about everywhere but the back corners. Even the far sides had great action. Roscoe Anthony of Waveframe was skeptical about the show before coming, but was delighted with booth traffic and serious customers for the company’s new FrameWorks DX Version 4 workstation.
Mike Spitz of ATR Service was surrounded all
day long with admirers of his new 2-inch ATR-108C and Aria electronics.
“These were not tire kickers either,” he reports. “These
were quality people. It was worth coming just for these first two
days. Sunday and Monday will be icing on the cake.”
Earthshaking news in the live sound end of the industry was hard to come by, with many companies reserving product for NAMM, or having already spilled the beans at NSCA or LDI. But a few items were worthy of note.
If their claims hold water—and I for
one found their arguments convincing—this could be serious
competition for Vertec and the smaller box from French fellows L’Acoustics.
(Incidentally, I think the French do well in speaker design for
the same reason they do so well in fine cuisine. Think about it.)
Oh yes, they have a companion supercardioid sub for the GEO line,
a concept introduced by Meyer a couple years back and here presumably
given just enough of a twist to avoid patent hassles.
Over at the Crest booth, designer extraordinaire
(and all-around fun guy) Chuck Augustkowski held court over his
console creations. The latest additions are the nifty XR series
rack mount mixers, packed with features and with broadcast quality
specs. Also new here was the X-Matrix module, which can be used
as a matrix expander with the popular X-VCA console or as a stand-alone,
self-contained matrix mixer. Check Out The Rest of Bruce's AES Coverage: Monday:
Goodbye to a Triumph
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